This invention relates to the automatic testing of railroad car brake equipment and particularly to means for directly accessing specific fluid pressure channels of brake control valve devices for use in conducting automatic testing of the car air brakes.
Historically, single car testing on "in-service" freight cars has been performed to provide a general check on the condition of the car brake equipment. A well-known single car test device is employed to enable this testing to be accomplished without removal of any of the brake components from the car. In general, the testing procedure is accomplished manually and entails a prescribed sequence of operation of different cocks, appropriate setting of a pressure regulator and monitoring of different pressure gages and timing devices comprising the single car test device.
Presently, an automatic single car test device is under development, which requires access to various pressure channels of the car control valve device.
Where standard pipe brackets having service and emergency valve portions mounted on opposing faces thereof are employed, such access is provided by a special adapter plate that is interposed between the pipe bracket and one of the opposed valve portions. The adapter plate is provided with access ports via which test ports associated with various fluid pressure channels may accessed.
In the case of the more recently developed single-sided pipe bracket on which the service and emergency valve portions are mounted on the same side thereof, test ports are provided on this single valve mounting face generally intermediate the respective valve portions. An access housing having access ports communicated with the test ports facilitates access to the test ports.
In both the standard pipe bracket as well as the newly developed pipe bracket, spring loaded check valves are provided to maintain the access ports closed under normal operating conditions.